Thursday, June 14, 2007

The More Things Change

I read a couple of posts and comments tonight that really made me think. In the June 11 post on JenLa La had asked for podcast recommendations, citing a couple of popular podcasts that had not appealed to her. I'd gone back to reread the comments and see if there were any shows mentioned I might like to download. Like so many on line discussions, it seemed like you can only get a certain number of comments before someone has to make a cutting remark and the flame is on.

Enchanting Juno posted yesterday about the kinds of demeaning comments about women that are so common that it almost seems small minded to complain, except that silence makes you complicit. At the very least you'd always be The No Fun Feminazi Bitch for speaking up. It's interesting that while everything you say about almost any group has to pass through the PC filter, but you can say anything at all about a woman's appearance or character without any anyone speaking up.

At first glance these seemed like two different topics, but on closer examination they come from the same place. Why can women not support each other? Why not speak up against a demeaning remark about another woman? Why not support the efforts of individual women even if the results are not exactly to our tastes? We are the majority in the country and maybe in the world. If we stood together none could stand against us. Why is it so hard to support each other?

Tomorrow I'll show you my knitting and my snacks, but for tonight hug your girlfriends, turn away from malicious gossip and remember that we choose what we will tolerate, and maybe this is not what we want in our lives.